Vehicle lamp



M hi,

Feb. 16, 1960 Y K. w; BEACH 2,925,487

VEHICLE LAMP Filed April 4, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-7 IN V EN TOR. KARL WILLIAM BEACH BY 7 0w&m-' TWA "M.

ATTORNEYS VEHICLE LAMP Filed April 4. 1955 2 Shee 2 INV M BEACH @P/KA W'LUA AT'ro I .z,9zs',4s1 VEHICLE LAMP Karl William Beach, Springfield, Ohio Application April4, 11955,. SeriaLNo;498 954 Claims; 61.240 45 a, fully sealed manner vsuch as' isgcustomarily employed with head lights of a vehicle; v 1

Accordingly gasket; sealing: means are generally emhe more fully understood by 'reference fto the following detailed description and accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tail lightrineorporat ing; the features of this' invention; V K

Figure 2 is a sectional view throughfthe'tail light of Figure 1;

Figure 3 ,is anelevational view of the breathing clo sure of Figures land 2; 1 V

Figure 4 is'an enlarged and exploded perspectivervievi of a portion of the structure of Figure '3; 1 Figure 5 is; a. viewof afurther embodiment of the invention; v Figure 6 is an elevational view or yerano'ther mecli fication of the invention;

Figure! illustrates a furthermodification 'of-the -in vention;

Figure 8. is'a' perspective view schematically illustrat ing apparatus useful in the production of the closure oi the, invention;

Figure 9 is a view taken on line 9-9' of Figure-.8

and illustrates: one form of the absorbent material; and

Figure 10, is a sectional view of the'breathing closure 7 taken on line 10-10 of Figure 8.

ployed in connection with, auxiliary lighting equipment and fortail, parking-and: fog lights; With gasket sealing the. seal while good isnot completely-airtight. and moisture tends toenter the spacing surrounding; the bulb of 1 thelamp. structure; further. with'suchlamps-air, dust and moisture tend to be included. in the. lamp structure when it is assembled. 7 i r The presence of dust tut-e spacing is particularly deleterious with; present highsneed automob s b a he presencezof u h in the atmosphere -of the spacing tends to diminish; the, light emitted by the lamp; not only does condensation take and moisturelinthe lamp strucspacing p13 is anelectric bulb 15; b.ulb -15 is supported "in a metalbase 17 which extends. through an opening in the rear ofthereflector-support :M'ost suitablybase 17 place in the presence of the dust, to formfogwithirr the spacing, but moisture condenses on-the lens and other inner surfaces ofthe enclosure;v this leads, to dispersion of theprojected beam and impaimnentg'and'corrosion of the-.reflector'and other lamp components. The-result frequeutly-g is that the emitted. light transmitted to an opera; or f: ,a f ll wingvehicle, for; example, is; lowin. intensity and. inadequate. v

' Thedifliculties, mechanical and economical; attendant upon the production and use of; such lamps are overcome inwthe. practice; of my invention by the-provision of a novelbreathing. closure. structure which "incorpor'ates in combinat1on,,resilie nt,impervious; substantially non;

absorbent gasket means andga moisture-absorbent body; The moisturerab'sorbent material istin cont-actwiththe gasket means and borders'to at least some extent the spacing ofthe lamp. Most suitably the absorbentmate- I rial is itself somewhat resilient and "accordingly it is' pressured with the resilient; gasket means and the com" bination tends vto breathe; However the arrangementis such that moisture vapor in the spacing contacts the-absorbent material and is wicked'out' ofthe lamp-structure.

This: action is. facilitated by the fact that theinterior of the. lamp is: normally at a exterior.v

The-invention therefore-Ucontemplates the provision or a novelbreathing closure means for lamp structures;

,I e invention particularly contemplates the provision higher.temperature"than- -the of; economical lamp structures for ahtomobilesywhichf iunletp assembl lamplstructures a e conomical to P o uce andsrelatiycly These and other allied objectives of the inventionwill' spacing 13; clamping ring '14 retains the. support; lens andassembly llQtogetlrerand is-itselfsecured'tothe tender.j; Extending; from the rearof the lamp 'structurerintodhe is: soldered to refiector support 7 at 19 in-air-tight rela tion, but s'uchtis not necessary: in the practice ofth-is ill-rvention and the base may be removably mounted with:

respect to the support if desired by. incorporating the breathing means of this invention between the outer-side 0f S pp rt 7' and;the'base'17'. .1 i Current lead-ins 21 pass into the'base 17 in the usual? manner. and connect with-filaments (not-shown.) in the bulb; V V i Thebreathing'closuremeans- 11 isshown more clearly in Eigure"3;-. this closure assembly: includeslaresilieht', 1 impervious endlessgasket '23 which ispreferably ot a sponge rubber providedwith a central: opening- 24; I i

gasket 23: is. in this-instance slotted through the widtln and partiallythrough the thickness. at several pointsxih dicated-by 'the numerals '25. and. 27. Inserted into the slots thus formed are-sections. 291, 3 1;. respectively, 'of s moisture-absorbent, somewhat resilient material such as felt.

. Theirnoisture-absorbentsections'borden thezopenin'ggzfilf. V seat in the slots, extend tothe surface off the gaskhjoin the peripherally extending-portions of the gasket'jon each? side; ofthe slots and are. adapted" to contact" moisture vapor existing; in the atmosphere ofthe lamp: Preferably? 7 also at leastone section ofithef'moisture absorbent ma teriali ispositioned at thelowenendioftheclosure-11' to r permit absorption of any'cond'ensed' moistureiexis tihg im the base-of the lampstructure; Thegasket'-2;3f' (Figure- 6) has the sections 29', 3F soar-rangedthat either'mayi be positioned at the lower end of the closure.

The; moistureeabsorbent material: maybe in;- blocle form. 7

as; illustratedat 31. in FigureA'; or the: matcriala may;

The support 7, lens 9; and"v assembly- 11, together form; enclosure and define a;

up and withdrawn from the interior spacing 13 by the absorbent material in the slots of the gasket. Since the temperature normally existing within the lamp is higher than the outside surroundings, and particularly so when the bulb. 15 is illuminated, the moisture will be caused to travel through the width of "the absorbent body and to be evaporatedtherefrom through the juncture of the ring 14 and the body support 7 in the case of the structure of Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 5 the moisture-absorbent body may be co-extensive with and superposed on the gasket; thus the body of absorbent material having the opening 37 corresponds in configuration to the gasket 39 having the opening 41. a

. The moisture-absorbent body may also be compressed between two resilient gaskets as shown in Figure 7 wherein the absorbent body 43 is shown sandwiched between gaskets 45 and 47.

As shown. most clearly in Figure 2 the breathing closure is normally compressed between a support body and a lens of glass or plastic. The resilient nature of the gasket insures that the closure will remain close fitting with changes in conditions, as temperature. The tendency of the absorbent body to pick up moisture and to permit passage of air therethrough also tends to increase the pressure acting between the components and to inhibit dust passage to the interior of the spacing 13. Further absorbent bodies such as felt are themselves compressible and resilient to a degree and tend to maintain the tight fitting relation.

In general capillaceous bodies, that is bodies of high capillary potential, are preferred as the absorbent bodies. Such include wool felt, paper felt, mats of fine fibers including cotton and staple glass fibers; further bonding agents which are non-film forming such as colloidal sodium silicate and aluminum silicate as indicated at 49 in Figures 5 and 7 are most useful although other bonding agents may be utilized. However for many applications no bonding agent is required as impervious gaskets such as soft-rubber, or compositions of soft rubber and cork, adhere well to the absorbent materials.

The production of the closure means is economically attained in the manner illustrated in Figure 8. A roll of soft sponge rubber 51 grooved longitudinally at 53. is drawn rightwardly beneath a coil 55 of absorbent material in'the cylindrical form indicated in cross-section in Figure 9. A roller 61 pressures the absorbent material into groove 53; if desired a second roll of gasket material 62 may be positioned to provide an upper plyand cement or adhesive may be sprayed from head 64 as the upper ply passes to roller 66. Then the composite passes serves to filter out dust particles while permitting the.

passage of moisture laden 'air and while wicking moisture from the enclosure. Under operating conditions of the lamp substantially no moisture will be retained in the spacing 13 and thus the presence of fog in the enclosure and the presence of condensation is inhibited.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to. modification in order toadapt it to different usages and conditions and accordingly it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

.I claim: I 'lJA' lamp unit comprising an enclosure defining a spacing and including a lamp body support, a translucent seven-and breathing sealing means compressed between the support and cover in contact therewith closing the spacing, said-means comprising a resilient non-absorbent gasket having a cut-out portion and an insert in the form of a body section of "absorbent material seated in the cut-out portion and conforming in size and shape to the cut-out portion, said absorbent material bordering the spacing and communicating the spacing with the exterior of the enclosure, the'insert resting on the gasket and joining contiguous surface portions of the gasket.

2. A lamp unit comprising anenclosure defining a spacing and including a lamp body support, a translucent cover, and breathing sealing means compressed between the support and cover in contact therewith closing the spacing, said means comprising resilient substantially moisture impervious gasket means and a body section of absorbent material, the body section of absorbent material having contact with the atmosphere of the spacing and extending on and across the width of the gasket means flush with the gasket means to the outer side of the enclosure.

3. A lamp structure for vehicles comprising, an enclosure defining an interior spacing and including a lamp support, a translucent cover and breathing sealing means compressed between the support and cover in contact therewith, closingthe spacing and extending outwardly of the enclosure, said breathing sealing means comprising a resilient endless gasket of substantially non-absorbent; moisture-impervious material provided with a central opening and engaged in sealing relation between said support and cover, said gasket having a cut-out portion extending completelythrough a peripheral portion of the widththereof and only partially through thethickness thereof, and an insert in said cut-out portion of said gasket in the form of a body section of a moisture-absorbent and pervious material; said insert joining contiguous peripherally extending surface portions of the gasket and extending on the gasket from the opening of the gasket and the spacing of the enclosure to the outer side of the said gasket and said enclosure. 7

4. A lamp structure for'vehicles comprising an enclosure defining an interior spacing and including a lamp support, a translucent cover and breathing sealing'means compressed between the support and cover in contact therewith, closing the spacing and extending outwardly of the enclosure, said breathing sealing means comprising a resilient endless planar gasket of substantially moistureimpervious material provided with a centraliopening and engaged in sealing relation between said support and cover and extending in a substantially vertical plane, said gasket having a cut-out portion extending through a peripheral portion of the width thereof and only partially through the thickness thereof at the lower-most portion of the gasket, and an insert in said cut-out portion of said gasket in the form of a body section of a moistureabsorbent and 'pervious material, said insert being flush with and joining contiguous peripherally extending surface portions of the gasket and extending on the gasket-- from the opening ofthe gasket and the spacing of the enclosure to the outer side of the said gasket and said enclosure.

5. A lamp structure for .vehicles comprising an em closure definingan interior spacing and including a lamp support, a translucent cover and breathing sealing means compressed between the support and cover in contact therewith, closing the spacing and extending outwardly of the enclosure, said breathing sealing meanscomprising a resilient endless gasket of substantially non-absorbent moisture-impervious material provided with a centralopening and engaged in sealing relation between said support and cover, said gaskethaving a cut-out portion extending completely through 'a peripheral portion of the width thereof and only partially through the thickness thereof, and an insert in said cut-out portion of said gasket in'the form of a body section of rolled shape and of a moisture absorbent and nerviousmaterial, said insert joining contiguous peripherally extending surface portions of the gasket and extending on the gasket from the opening of the gasket and the spacing of the enclosure to the outer side of the said gasket and said enclosure.

1,473,400 Dunn Nov. 6; 1923 Diedring Apr. 22, 1958' FOREIGN PATENTS. 

